An Inconvenient Arrangement
by greysanatomiac007
Summary: Meredith desperately needs money, Derek needs a wife. What happens when the two work together? Is this really just a job, or could it be more? AU **really bad at summaries but please read!
1. Chapter 1

_**An Inconvenient Arrangement**_** is a work of fiction. I do not own anything. All characters, pictures, and/or songs that are contained in this work of fiction do not belong to me. Any characters, pictures, and/or songs that resemble those that are in the show Grey's Anatomy or otherwise do not belong to me.**

_**Seattle, Washington**_

Fighting the urge to bite her nails, Meredith looked around nervously as she got out of her car. Her mother, the Great Ellis Grey would have bitten her head off if she saw what a nervous wreck her daughter was but Meredith could care less. There were more important things to worry about at the moment. A thin manila folder tugged neatly under her arm as she turned the corner. The quiet suburb area was very unfamiliar to her. It was way out of her usual traveling route. She had moved to Seattle over 3 years ago and had only been to this neighborhood only a few times.

Finally, she arrived at her destination: _Kuppa_, a tiny coffee shop. Meredith took several deep breaths as she rechecked the name of the establishment just to make sure she came to the right place. She frowned a little as she noticed her own slightly dishevel appearance in the shop window. In the last attempt to look at least decent, Meredith ran her hands over her blouse trying to straighten it and tucked the strands of hair behind her ear. This must have been the strangest job interview ever, not just for her but for anyone else for that matter. But she was needy she couldn't afford to be choosy. Meredith glanced at her watch for the last time before making her way inside. It was 04:03 p.m. She was only 3 minutes late, unacceptable in her mother's book but she could care less.

At this time of the day, the coffee shop was almost empty, except for the man at the far end of the room. Meredith couldn't really tell from here what he looked like. His face was buried deep in the magazine he was reading. But she was sure this was the man she had talked to on the phone. He was the only one in the shop. He had to be it.

The waiter gave her a brief friendly nod before going back to doing whatever he had been doing behind the counter. Glancing at her own reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall, Meredith, again, nervously tucked her hair behind her ear trying to tame her soft sandy blond curl so it would look less of a mess. Except the sheer pink lip gloss she was wearing, her face was void of make-up. She hadn't thought she had looked that bad when she had left her apartment, but now as she saw her own reflection she wasn't so sure. But it was too late to do anything about it.

"You're late," the man finally put the magazine down. Sounded annoyed like he couldn't be bothered as he glanced at his watch.

Meredith thought her heart was beating so loud she was afraid he would hear. His voice alone intimidated her, "I apologize. This neighborhood… I'm not familiar—"

"Have a seat," basically ordering her to sit down, he didn't even bother to stand up. Instead, he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms as he openly gave her a once over.

Meredith almost forgot to breathe as the sheer intensity of his blue eyes penetrated into her green ones. Something in his eyes made her look away. It gave her the strangest kind of goose bumps—the kind that made her forget to breathe and made her heart beat faster. It was as if he could see into her soul.

He chuckled a little at her reaction. Meredith could have sworn the man could read her mind. He didn't even bother with the formality of introducing himself. "How old are you? Over 21, I hope." He said disapprovingly as he reached for the manila folder.

He was very intimidating and the fact that Meredith was nervous didn't help the situation at all. "Um, I'm… I thought I would just—"

The man didn't even let her finish. He cut in, "I clearly stated in the ad that you need to be at least 35 years old, and you told me you met all my qualifications."

"But I just— I thought— I…" She really didn't know what to say except she really needed the job.

He opened the folder and started flipping through it nonchalantly. Pulling out her resume, he read, "Meredith Ann Grey…"

Meredith quietly studied the man as he read her resume in silence. He looked to be in his late 30s or early 40s, she couldn't be sure. Traces of lines around his eyes made him look tired. His dark raven curls looked silky to the touch as he ran his hand through it. There were several gray stands here and there but she thought the gray suited him. His five o'clock shadow was apparent. The man looked tired, tired but good looking nonetheless, she concluded.

"Last year med student… Hmm…" He muttered before he finally put her resume down, "This is a waste of time. I can't use you. You're way too young."

He pushed the folder back toward her and looked up, ready for her to get up and leave. Meredith stared back at him in disbelief. How could he turn he down just like that, "Oh, no… No, I'm not. I mean, 25 is not young. I can— I mean, I am capable of— I… What I mean is— I, um, I'm almost 26 and I can be your wife just fine. I'm sure."

He chuckled at her reply. His eyes sparkled with amusement, "and what do you think being my wife would entail?"

"Um…." Meredith wrecked her brain trying to come up with something smart and witty but the penetrating stare she was receiving from him made it hard for her to concentrate but something about his smirk started to annoy her a little, "I don't know. I mean you don't want a real wife, do you? You said you wanted someone to _pose_ as your wife. I mean, I can pretend to be your wife. I need the money—if you're paying as much as you said you would. But you didn't say much in the ad…"

"And yet you called and came to see me." He muttered. "What is making you so desperate for this job, Meredith Ann Grey?"

"You put the ad in a newspaper! Who's more desperate here?!" She began to sound a little defensive, but he was getting on her nerve. Meredith started to doubt if this was worth her time at all. "And stop calling me Meredith Ann Grey. Just Meredith is fine."

The man chuckled at her words. His eyes sparkled with amusement, "You got me there, _Just Meredith_. I could be just as desperate as you are, could I?"

She couldn't trust herself to reply to that. Yes, she was desperate but her reason for such desperation was understandable. Her life was like a page out of some Harlequin Romance. Who would have believed such things would happen to her or anybody or that matter? But she needed to finish her med school so she could go on to become the doctor she had always wanted to be. At least she would be able to earn some money when she became an intern somewhere… somehow… She just needed to finish her school first. That was her immediate goal and to be able to do that, she needed this job, however ridiculous this might be. "I really need the money."

"Why?" His voice was calm and collected as he studied her, watching her every move.

"I… I need the money. I need to finish school." She hesitated. Meredith wanted to say more but something held her back. She barely knew this guy. She didn't feel comfortable telling him all the gory details about the mess that was her life.

"So how have you been paying for school before now?" His question was within reason. She would have wondered the same if she were him.

"I— Um, my mother— She's…" Meredith inhaled deeply trying to decide what and how much she should reveal without making herself sound pathetic, "My mother, she's always— but now— so it's— and I can't—"

He chuckled a little at her words, "Would you care to translate what you've just said into normal human language?"

Meredith took another deep breath trying to calm herself and collect her thoughts, "My mother— She's ill."

She couldn't say more beyond that without risking bursting into tears and looking ever so pathetic in front of him so she stopped. But there must be something she said—or didn't say—because his eyes softened and his expression was less severe. He continued to stare at her without saying a word for a long time. She felt extremely uncomfortable under his stare but decided not to say anything.

Finally, he spoke. His voice was soft and less intimidating. His expression, however, was hard to read, "We will be legally married. You will be using my name. You will need to move in with me, fulltime—"

And when he noticed the panic in her eyes he added, "You will have your own room, of course. But no one is to know of this arrangement. And when I say no one, I mean no one. Not even your boyfriend—that is, if you have one. You are going to get rid of him. He will know nothing of this. For all he knows, we met and fell in love and got married."

And when she remained quiet, he added, "While we are married, you will be going to all the business and family functions I am required to attend. And when the time is up, we will get divorced and be rid of each other forever. No one will know of our arrangement. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes! Of course!" She nodded her head profusely when in reality she wasn't sure if she could handle this. "I can do it."

Not fully convinced, he chuckled at her eagerness. "We'll see."

"I don't even know your name." She mumbled the first thing that came to her mind.

"Derek Shepherd. Doctor Derek Shepherd."

The interview with Meredith Grey took a lot longer than he had anticipated, not to mention several minutes lost in trying to find his way through the unfamiliar city, now he was late for the meeting. Derek got out of his rental car and made his way toward the tall white building in front of him as fast as he could. He hated being late for meetings. In fact, he hated being late for anything. It made him look unprofessional. He was one of the best neurosurgeons in the country. _Harvard Medical Journal_ named him the most sought-after neurosurgeon of the century and _the New York Times_ agreed. He had to live up to that name. He had to be professional and perfect and now he was a couple of minutes late and it was all Meredith Grey's fault.

Derek was beginning to think this whole thing with placing an ad in a newspaper looking for a wife wasn't such a good idea. So far, he had talked to 5 different girls and none of them seemed to qualify. They were either too young or too stupid. He didn't know if his decision to hire that Meredith girl was purely because he was too tired to conduct anymore interview or what but it had already been done. Phil Clayton, his attorney, was drawing up the contract for them at this very moment. He wanted it to be iron clad in case she had second thought. He didn't want to have to go look for a wife again. It would be too much of a hassle.

Besides the interview with that Meredith girl, the main reason Derek flew out to Seattle was to see Richard Webber, Seattle Grace's Chief of Surgery, a.k.a. his potential new boss. If all went well today, he would start working here by Thanksgiving. Derek still remember the phone call he had made last week to Webber and how excited and surprised the old man had sounded when he had expressed his wish to move to Seattle and work there.

Both men had known each other forever. Webber had been his resident and mentor when Derek had been an intern at Johns Hopkins. It was never a secret that Webber wanted Derek to join his staff at Seattle Grace. But as time progressed and Derek's name became too big for Seattle Grace, Webber stopped pushing. So one could only imagine Webber's skepticism and surprise when Derek had called him up and expressed his wish to move here and work under him.

"Ah…" Richard Webber let out a sigh as soon as Derek pushed the sighed contract back in front of him. The older man's face brightened into a smile, "Now I'm happy."

"What?" Derek chuckled, "Were you afraid I would change my mind?"

"Can you really blame me?" The older man grinned. "You're one of the best, Derek. It's only natural I had my doubt when you said you wanted to work here—not that Seattle Grace is not a reputable place to work at or anything."

"Well, I don't joke about things like this, Dr. Webber." Derek leaned back into his seat. The contract had been signed. He couldn't go back on it now. By Thanksgiving, he would be working here as Seattle Grace's Head of Neurology.

"Now that we have you, is it safe to ask why?"

"Why what?" Derek arched his brows. He knew exactly what the older man was asking.

"Why Seattle Grace of all the places? It's quite a change. You have to admit, Derek. We're going to be paying you two millions a year and that's a lot for us, but I'm sure you've been making a lot more than that on your own."

The sincerity in Webber's voice required an honest answer, which Derek could not completely give. There were many things he didn't want to reveal, a lot of things he didn't want to admit, and a lot more things he had no answers to at this point, "I need a change, Chief. I just feel… burned out, I guess. I think I have it all a little too much too soon."

Webber nodded. Not that he completely understood what Derek was talking about. Something in the younger man's eyes made him stop pressing, however. There was a sense of sadness and loneliness to it that made him feel like he was intruding. So Webber changed the topic. "So, fifteenth of November, it is."

"Yes," Derek nodded, glad that the older man changed the topic. "I'll need to sell my practice there and move my stuff out here."

And with that, Derek got up, and so did the older man, "Well, then, I'll have my secretary walk you down to HR."

Derek nodded as he reached to shake Webber's hand, "Yes, thank you. I'll see you in eight weeks then."

Derek walked back to his rental car in a state of haze. Things felt a little surreal at the moment. He had just gotten himself a job in a city as far away from Manhattan as he possibly could without having to leave the country. Not only that, he also got himself a wife—pending the signing of contracts and such, of course. With any luck, his attorney would have everything drawn up by tomorrow. Then that Meredith girl could sign the contract and the prenup and whatever papers that were necessary and they could charter a plane and fly out to Las Vegas the day after. With any luck, when he flew back to New York, he wouldn't be going back there alone. He would have a wife.

"Yes, I'll have the money by next week. I promise." Meredith finally hung up her cellphone before making her way into the Emerald's bar, one of her current places of employment. She hoped she sounded convincing enough and the lady from the school's financial aid office would stop calling her.

Things hadn't been good for a very long time but it hadn't been this bad either. She was a TA at school, a pizza delivery person at Zeeks, a bartender at Joe's bar, and a receptionist at her boyfriend Finn's vet clinic near her mother's house where she lived. She had been a lot of things these past few months holding several jobs at a time she barely had time to go to school, and the money still wasn't enough. Apparently, going to med school required a lot of money. If she didn't have the money to pay for tuition by next week she would be in big trouble. Joe, her boss at the bar, had offered to help but even Meredith knew he didn't have that kind of money to spare. And Finn… Finn had that kind of money and he had offered. But Meredith didn't want his money. She didn't want to owe anyone that much even if that someone was her boyfriend.

And because it wasn't just the tuition, pretty soon she would be required to pay for her mother's care at Roseridge too. If only her mother were lucid long enough to sign over the power of attorney, none of this would have been a problem. Meredith wasn't poor by any account. It's just that everything—including the things she had inherited from her late father—was under her mother's name. In her mother's eyes, Meredith was an irresponsible slob who could not handle any money matter on her own.

It hadn't been a problem at the time. Meredith had always been an avoider. She had been avoiding any confrontation with her mother since forever and if giving her mother the absolute power over her money and what not would get her mother to leave her alone, so be it. But now, things were different and Ellis Grey was in no condition to take care of anybody's money or otherwise.

Meredith had chosen University of Washington for med school for a reason. At the time, her mother had been the Chief of Surgery at Johns Hopkins. Being out here in Seattle would get her as far away from her mother as she possibly could without having to leave the country. Her mother had agreed to this only because Meredith had given her an ultimatum: either U-Dub for med school or no med school at all.

And things had been working just fine between them until the day she got a phone call from Roseridge, a nursing home here in Seattle. Apparently, her mother had checked herself in after being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer, and things had rapidly gone downhill from there.

"What are you doing here? It's your night off." Joe, the friendly neighborhood bartender and the owner of the bar, gave her a sympathetic smile the minute Meredith walked in. It was only 7 p.m. and there weren't many people there. Joe quickly yelled to the busboy asking him to get his favorite bartender a bowl of soup and some crackers. From the look of it, Meredith could use several bowls of soup but Joe decided it was better not to say anything. He knew she had money problem and was probably here so he could feed her.

Meredith gave him a weak smile as she walked up to the bar and pulled up a stool. She felt bad and a little embarrassed for having to come here for the food, "Thanks, Joe."

"Don't even mention it." Joe winked.

"So, how is that lawyer thing coming along?" Joe asked the minute he placed the soup in front of her. He knew she had been talking to her mother's lawyer Mr. Bates.

Meredith gave him a weak smile, "well, it's coming, I guess. He said there were a lot of technicalities to go through. Apparently, my mom had signed a lot of stuff and he needed some time to figure everything out."

Personally, Meredith thought it was hopeless where her mom's attorney was concerned. She knew the old man had her interest at heart, but the way things were looking didn't give her much to hope for right now. What—or rather, who—was giving her hope, however, was Derek Shepherd, her most recent employer. Dr. Shepherd had said he would call her as soon as he had the contract drawn up. Meredith hoped it would be soon, like, tonight or tomorrow kind of soon. She really needed the money. May be she could ask him for some advance. She just hoped he wouldn't see her as being too greedy. She was a little afraid of him. There was something about him that made her feel things, strange things, and that scared her. But she was desperate. Scared or not, she would have to bite the bullet and ask him for some advance.

"I never thought Seattle would be this small." A familiar voice came from the side just as Meredith was about to finish her soup.

"Huh— Oh, Dr. Shepherd!" She sounded more excited than she thought she should. She could have sworn she saw his lips curled up into a smile as he pulled up a stool and took a seat next to her.

"I don't think you should call me Dr. Shepherd in public." He muttered quietly as the bartender approached, reminded her of their secrecy.

"Oh, Der— Derek…" his name felt foreign on her lips.

"Much better." He nodded his approval before turning to Joe and place his order, "I'll have a double single-malt scotch."

"You said not to call you that in public. Does that mean I should call you that when we're alone?" She could have kicked herself in the butt for saying that but it was too late.

His face softened a little at her words, "whatever floats your boat, Meredith Ann Grey."

"So…" eager to change the subject as much as to inquire about one important matter, Meredith decided to go straight to the point, "I know we've just met and agreed on stuff this morning and everything, and I haven't even signed the contract, but I'm wondering if—"

The bar was getting a little noisy by then and it was a little harder to carry any decent conversation over the noise. The minute Derek leaned closer to her to catch her words, Meredith forgot what she was about to say. He arched his brows slightly and smirked at the blank look on her face, "Yes? You were saying?"

"Huh?" She just couldn't think straight. He smelled like soap and fresh linen and coffee—a strange combination that apparently made her feel funny in her stomach. It could be because of Joe's soup or because her employee was standing too close to her. She couldn't be sure.

"You said you were wondering…" The corner of his mouth curled up into a faint smile as he tried to help her along. His face was inches away from hers. The blue of his eyes burned into her green ones as he stared down at her.

It was like she was being hypnotized, Meredith murmured. "Yea… I was wondering that, um… I was wondering—"

"Here you go." Joe's voice interrupted them as he placed Derek's drink in front of them. He looked back and forth between the two. Sensing something, Joe asked protectively, "Are you all right, Meredith? Another bowl of soup, perhaps?"

"Oh, no, thank you, Joe. I'm fine." But she wasn't fine. Her employee had his hand around her. He was gently stroking her back as she forced a smile on her face. She wasn't fine at all.

"Meri?" Joe was confused. The new guy looked way too friendly with Meredith. Not that she looked like she wanted to push him away or anything. On a contrary, she looked like she actually liked the guy, but something about it was off. She looked like she was about to cry and Joe was a little concerned and so he asked her again, "Meri?"

Meredith knew she had to say something before all hell broke loose. Her employee was having his arm around her like it was the most natural thing in the world and here she was freaking out about it. "Oh, Joe, this is Doct— I mean, this is Derek. He's— He's, um… He's my—"

"Boyfriend." Derek finished the sentence for her as he reached over and shook Joe's hand. "Dr. Derek Shepherd, nice to meet you."

Joe nodded, his mouth hung open in total shock as he shook Derek's hand. Meredith could see the little wheel turn in Joe's head. She knew he would ask her what happened to Finn the minute he got her alone and she wouldn't know what to tell him. She hadn't even broken up with Finn.

Oh shit, she needed to break up with Finn.

_**9:30 p.m.  
In front of the Emerald's Bar**_

"Where's your car?" His hand was on the small of her back leading her out of the bar, but it didn't really freak Meredith out. She was a little tipsy, actually, and she kinda liked it that he had his hand on her back. Derek looked around the parking lot for her car when he realized she didn't have one and was about to walk off on an opposite direction. It wasn't that late but they were more than ready to call it a night. It had been a long day for both of them.

"Oh, my house is just around the corner. Well, technically it's not really my house. It's more like my mother's house, but, yea, I live there and I pay her rent, and I walked here so it's only logical that I walk home. I mean, my car is at home, I mean, it's not really my home, yunno. It's my mother's. Can you believe she made me pay— Well, anyway, I live really close by. I'm just gonna walk home." She explained, reluctant to leave. She hadn't asked him about an advance. She hadn't worked up the courage to.

"How close? Where do you live?" He wasn't convinced. Derek eyed her suspiciously. She could have sworn she saw him smiled but she couldn't be sure. After that fifth shot of tequila, things had gotten a little blurry.

"Really. I live just a couple of blocks away." She insisted.

"C'mon, I'm driving you home." He casually grabbed her hand and guided her toward his car and was a little surprised when she didn't resist.

"Ur, thanks," she let him lead her to his car, "Um… listen. I'm…"

He unlocked the door and they both quickly climbed in. Instead of starting the engine, he turned to the side and waited for her to talk, "Yes?"

She held her breath, "Um, I know this is, um… I mean—"

"If there's anything you want to tell me, do it now. I'm tired. I would like to go back to my hotel." Derek let out a sigh. He sounded tired when he spoke. But when he saw the uncertainty in her eyes, his voice softened. He added, "Please?"

Thank goodness it was dark in his car and she couldn't really see the intensity of his stare on her. Meredith nodded and began, "I know I haven't signed the contract or anything and technically you're not my boss yet, but…"

She sounded worried and nervous. What he did next surprised even himself, Derek reached for her hand and held it firmly in his, "Yes?"

Taken aback by his action, she seemed to forget what she was about to say for a moment. But Meredith soon got a hold of herself. "May be I should have waited except I can't. You know. I mean, it's not really your problem and you shouldn't have to—"

Trying to collect herself, Meredith sighed again for the hundredth time, "Well, you see, there's a tuition matter and the mommy matter, the lawyer matter and the rent matter."

Meredith paused, "I know, I know, I know. Bear with me here… Well, okay, the lady from financial aid office was very persistent and rude and she wouldn't stop calling. And then there's this rent that I'm several months behind. I mean, it's my mother's house and you would think I get to live there for free, right? Well, guess what. She had me signed a contract and I have to pay her rent and I'm going to be kicked out of her house soon because that stupid lawyer of hers has also been ordered to kick me out if I don't pay my rent. She even had him sign a contract to that effect. Seriously! And now… now that all this is happening and she can't do anything about it cuz she can't remember a goddamn thing at the moment. Hell, she couldn't even remember me most of the times these days…" Meredith paused as soon as she realized he was staring at her with a slight grin on his face.

"Are you getting this?" She paused to ask, seeing that he might be a little confused.

"Go on. Go on." His face was hard to read.

"Okay, where was I? Oh, yes, and soon I'll have to pay for her care at Roseridge. I mean, she didn't even have the decency to tell me anything. Roseridge called me. She should have called me as soon as she had been diagnosed with the thing, yunno. But, nooooo, she didn't even call me. Well, she probably couldn't remember me by then, but… How the hell could she think she could still take care of herself? Didn't she know anything about Alzheimer? Seriously? Seriously!"

It was like Meredith was lost in her own thoughts. She didn't even notice the strange look on the man sitting next to her as she went on, "Then soon I'll be homeless and school-less which wouldn't really matter because I'll be living in a shelter and begging for food at street corners," biting on her lower lips, she stopped, finally noticing the faint grin on his face.

"Dramatic much?" His voice was laced with humor. Meredith couldn't understand how he could find the disaster that was her life so funny.

Something about it made her want to swat his arm but she knew better, instead, all she did was pull her hand back, "anyway, my point is, um… My point— My point is that, um, canIgetanadvance?"

All he did was arching his brow. It was like he was waiting for her to repeat whatever she had just said to him again. Meredith let out a sigh and tried, "I know I can get my hand on the money. My mom's attorney said so. He's working on it just as we speak. What I don't have is time. The tuition is due forever ago and I'm behind on the rent—yea, I know, it's my mom's house, but… Anyway, there, I said it."

"You said it." Arching his brows, he murmured, all the while appearing to be in deep thoughts.

"This is seriously embarrassing on so many levels," Meredith murmured to herself as he continued to stare at her without saying a word. She knew he was thinking but she couldn't tell what he was thinking about. And the amount of tequila in her system made it even harder for her to think. It was making her nervous.

Finally, Derek started the engine and put the car into drive, "Tell me where you live."

So she nodded and started pointing him toward the direction of her house. He followed her instruction, "We'll go to your house and when we get there you're going to tell me all about your problems again, starting with your mother and what the hell is wrong with her…"

He paused to stress, "…and this time I want you to tell me in plain human language."

Meredith was getting very uncomfortable by the minutes. Derek had been staring at her without saying a word. He looked surprised by all the things she had told him. She had told him about her mother's illness and how the attorney had been taking his time working things out so she could get her hand on the money. She had told him about her school and how she had really needed to pay for her tuition. She had told him about the ridiculousness of having to pay her mother in order to live in this house and that, by law, she would be evicted soon if she didn't have the money to pay the rent.

"You should get rid of your mother's lawyer. That's what you should do." Finally, Derek muttered before pulling out his cellphone, "Give me your mother's attorney's contact information."

"What?" She didn't know what he was planning to do but it looked like he had a plan and he looked generally annoyed.

"The guy is useless. Give me the lawyer's phone number and the info of the contact person at your school's financial aid office. Give me all those details. Now." He sounded authoritative as he pushed a piece of paper in front of her and ordered her to write them all down.

"Oh, okay." She wasn't sure what he was going to do but decided it was best not to question him. So she pulled out her cellphone to look for the numbers and wrote down all the information he had asked for.

While she was writing down the information, Derek made a call of his own. It looked like the person on the other end of the line picked up on first ring.

Derek snatched the piece of paper from Meredith's hand and walked off into another room.  
"Phil, hi! I'm sorry to call so late. I need you to do something for me. Yes, first thing tomorrow…"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Meredith's house…**_

"Seriously?! Seriously?!" Meredith tightened her grip on Derek's beautiful fountain pen—a Montblanc, the same kind she had seen her mother use—as she read the contract trying to make sense of it all. Her future husband was glaring at her annoyingly like she was asking all the dumbest questions in the world wasting away his time, but she didn't care. She needed to make sure she understood every single word on it before she signed, "I'm required to handle the family thing for you?! What does that mean anyway? Deal with your sisters and your mother if necessary… No, no, no, no, nooooo… I don't do families. People who know me know that I don't do families. I don't even know how to deal with mine how do I know how to deal with yours? And how many brothers and sisters do you have anyway?"

"Four. I have four sisters. Two older and two younger." He muttered his answer like he couldn't be bothered, "Couldn't you just sign it already?!"

"Four? _Four?!_ Jeez! I don't even have one. I'm an only child—in case you haven't noticed!" She rolled her eyes at him before adding, "And you are the middle child? Go figure."

"Hey!" He glared at her, "Sign it already!"

"Why is it so important you have to put it in the contract? And how do I know what to do with your sisters? And then there's your mother. What would I do with her? I don't do families. I don't do mothers. I don't do siblings!"

"Could you stop waving your hands in the air? It's making me very dizzy." Derek reached to grab her hands and put them down on her lap. He then grabbed her shoulders and turned her sideway so she would be looking straight at him, "Now, listen carefully and try to understand this because I'm going to say it only once."

As always, he looked slightly annoyed, "I'm not marrying you out of the kindness of my heart. I'm not marrying you for a charity cause. I need a wife who can handle my family, and get some people off my back, and perform the wifely duties, and in return, I'm taking care of your financial situation and what not—"

"Now, wait a minute!" Meredith's eyes bulged. The rest of what he had said was lost to her, "Wifely duties? _Wifely duties?!_ Define 'wifely.'"

"Don't flatter yourself!" He sneered at her mini freak out, "I'm talking about the social aspects of it: be my date to some business functions, host a party when needed, that kinda thing. I don't need to hire someone to sleep with me. Never have, never will. But if you want to jump in my bed, who am I to stop you."

Meredith rolled her eyes at his remarks. At this point, she had come to realize it was useless to fire back at him, so she chose to ignore, "About the party thing, I don't know how to do that either." She mumbled, still feeling insulted by his remarks.

He exhaled loudly as he continued, "Considering your mother is Ellis Grey—and thank you very much for letting me find that out myself, by the way!" he paused to glare at her accusingly, "I should be demanding payment from you, actually. Now, I can understand why that stupid ass lawyer of hers was so afraid to help you with anything. Even I was having second thoughts when I realized who your mother was."

"Oh, no, you're marrying me. You can't back out now. I have the contract here. See?" Meredith picked up the contract and held it tightly against her chest. She got a little panicked at his words, afraid he might change his mind. Her mother tended to have that effect on people.

"It would be even better if you sign it." Derek commented. She could have sworn his eyes sparkled with amusement. It was annoying how he had always found her state of panic amusing.

"Fine," She read the most important line in the contract, making sure this marriage would last only two years as they had agreed on, "Two years and that's it."

"Definitely," he muttered. "Two years should be enough."

"And don't blame me if I send your family running for the hill." She mumbled and finally scribbled her name on the contract. "And I really don't know how to throw a party. I mean, I usually buy lots of alcohol, several kegs of beers, and chips and dips. That's the only kind of party I know how to throw."

"Right," he muttered to himself and quickly snatched the signed contract from her hand before shoving another sheet of paper in front of her, "Now, learn this. This is all the information you need to know about me, about my family, about how we met and got married, etc, etc."

"What?!" She stared down at the piece of paper. It was in Derek's handwriting. His birth date… his sisters' names… his favorite ice cream flavor… where the scar on his forehead came from… How they had met at her school while he had been a guest speaker… She was amazed by how detailed and well thought out it was, "You've thought it all out, haven't you?"

"Eh," he shrugged, "just make sure you memorize them."

And with that, he got up, "Now you can go tell all your employers you're quitting your jobs today. Your school hasn't started yet, so it shouldn't be any problem there. I'll go and make our travel arrangement. I'll call you later today to let you know what time I'll pick you up tomorrow so we can fly down to Las Vegas, then to New York."

"Huh? New York? Why?!" She got up with him. She knew why they were going to Las Vegas. The New York thing was news to her. She had so many things to worry about it's not even funny. She had to talk to her professor about her TA job. She had to think up excuse to tell him… Poor Professor Jenkins! He had been so nice to her. Now she had to lie to him and quit this TA job. And at this moment, she couldn't even think up something that would make her abrupt exit from this job sound remotely reasonable. Then she would have to talk to Joe about quitting her bartending job. How she would tell him that without him shooting her down with loads of questions she still didn't know. Then there was her job at the pizza place, not to mention Finn… She would have to go and talk to Finn. Poor, poor Finn! Jeez, there were so many things to take care of today, on top of packing a bag because she was leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow—not to mention New York. Oh my God! New York! Why did she have to go to New York?!

"Did you hear a thing I said?" Somewhere far away, Derek's voice was finally heard.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She mumbled,still looking a little freaked out.

"I need to pack up and sell my practice before I can be out here permanently." He shook his head and let out a sigh, "Do you ramble in your head as much?"

"Well, duh!" She walked away with the piece of paper he had just given her.

"I'll call you later," he yelled after her and left.

Derek was still trying to recover from his minor shock of what he was about to become: Dr. Ellis Grey's son-in-law. There had been something about that woman that had been quite unsettling. Not that she had had a bad bedside manner or had been a horrible doctor. In fact, she had been what one would call a legend in the surgical world. But her intensity and dedication to the medical profession to the pathological degree had frightened him. He hadn't even realized she had had a daughter until now. Never in his years as an intern, had he ever thought of her as someone's mother or someone's wife. She had never taken leave from work. Anytime, day or night, Dr. Ellis Grey had always been there at the hospital.

But that wasn't what worried him. Derek vaguely remembered about Dr. Grey's relationship with his mentor, Dr. Webber. He wasn't sure what exactly had gone down between the two—Mark would know more about this, he was sure—but now that he was going to be working under Dr. Webber, he wasn't sure if the fact that he was married to Ellis Grey's daughter could become a problem, or an advantage.

Aside from that, a part of him hoped Meredith took after her mother in some degree. Ellis Grey had been a fighter. She had been feisty and fierce. That, he remembered well. If there was anyone who could handle his family, especially Nancy, it would be Ellis Grey.

Dr. Grey was the resident during his intern days at Johns Hopkins. Thank God, he was working under Webber and not her. Mark, his best friend, hadn't been so lucky, however. Derek could still remember the many times his friend had been stuck at the hospital even after his 80-hour limit had been up only because of Dr. Grey.

Derek made a mental note to ask Mark more about his resident as soon as they got to New York. He wanted to make sure he knew everything there was to know about Ellis Grey before he introduced Dr. Webber to her daughter as his wife.

Thank God, the manager at Zeeks was in love with her—or at least Meredith would like to think he did. He let her off the hook too easily. But who was she to complain. Talking to Professor Jenkins, on the other hand, was a much tougher job. Meredith let out a sigh as she came out of Prof. Jenkins' office. It didn't turn out that bad. Actually, it went exceptionally well, except it wasn't. The sucky part was hers and hers alone. The professor was so nice and understanding about it. Meredith, on the other hand, felt horrible that she had to lie, and felt even worse when she realized he totally bought it. He was very sympathetic and understanding when she told him about the sudden death of her grandmother in Louisiana. She would have felt much better if there actually were a grandmother in Louisiana.

Meredith sighed loudly as she finally pulled into a parking lot in front of Joe's bar. It was only 4 in the afternoon. It was her day off and no one came to a bar at 4 in the afternoon. Joe knew she didn't come here to work and he would also know she didn't come here to eat. Meredith parked her car and quickly made her way inside, hating the anticipation of having to confront this particular employee.

Meredith smiled a way too big smile. She might as well just get it over with, "Joe!"

Joe looked up; a smile breaking out on his face. He gestured for her to get behind the bar. "Meredith! Just who I've been wanting to see!"

He looked to be in a good mood, she assessed. Yet, she asked cautiously, "Yes? What do you want with me?"

"What?" Joe arched his brow, "Why?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." She tried to look innocent but failed miserably.

He stared at her suspiciously and finally decided, "Something's up, isn't it. Spill! Now!… and then later you can tell me all about Dr. Derek Shepherd, your flavor of the month, and how he has come to replace your flavor of _last_ month Dr. Finn Dandridge."

Meredith couldn't help but giggled at Joe's words, "Finn's not a doctor, Joe. He's a vet. I mean, I would have called him a doctor if I were your dog, Pongo. But I'm not. And neither are you. So, it's not really—"

"Of course, I was speaking from Pongo's point of view. But that's not the point. The point is, what's going on? You're rambling and it could only mean one thing." Rubbing his hands together and grinning evilly, Joe leaned over the counter and stared straight at Meredith, giving her his full attention.

She looked at him and sighed very loudly, hoping he would get that this was hard for her, "Joe… Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe…"

"What is it? Meri, Meri, Meri, Meri, Meri…" The corners of his lips curled up into a smile. He knew this was going to be good. "C'mon, spill before Walter gets here. You know how he hates it when I gossip."

"There's nothing to gossip about!" She rolled her eyes at him before added sheepishly, "It's not like we're talking about people who aren't here. We're talking about me so it's not really a gos—"

Seeing Joe rolling his eyes at her, Meredith stopped herself and took another deep breath, "I need to quit my job here, Joe."

"Huh?"

"I need to quit, like, today."

"What?… Why?!" He sounded disappointed. It's not like Joe was short on bartenders here. But all his bartenders were happily married guys who didn't do girl talks. Only Meredith did girl talk. Joe would definitely hate to lose Meredith.

She glanced at her watch. She would rather be somewhere else but here. Seeing how devastated Joe was made her feel guilty beyond words, "Joe… I'm so sorry. I just—"

"What's going on? Does this have anything to do with Mr. September?" Joe's disappointment lasted for only about 5 seconds before his curiosity won over. His eyes sparkled with interest as he waited for her answer.

"Who?" Dumb founded, Meredith blinked.

"Mr. September! Your flavor of the month! Yunno, Doctor McDreamy, that's who." Joe grinned. "Tell me it's him. He looked so yummy the other day I could so eat him up!"

"Doctor McWhat?! Derek! You mean Derek. He's not that dreamy! And he's not my flavor of the month! I don't have— I don't do flavor of the month thingy thing. And I thought you were disappointed I was quitting."

"I am! I so am!" Joe insisted, "And you can only fix this by telling me all the juicy details about Mr. September and you. How you two met and fell in love… Will there be a wedding in the near future… That kinda stuff, yunno."

"Joe!"

"C'mon! Walter could be here any minutes now. Spill!"

Meredith took a deep breath and crossed her arms. She took a step back from the counter putting her a little further from Joe, "I'm just— This is complicated and— well, it's not like it's the end of the world because it's not a bad thing. Actually, it's a very good thing. Being debt-free is a very good thing and good things don't mean it's the end of the world. You know what I mean?"

"Meredith Greyyyyy…"

"Hey! I'm trying here!" Meredith glared as she tried to get the words out, "It's complicated and messy and— You're in a relationship. You understand how complicated relationships get, don't you, Joe? I mean, sometime it's just hard to explain and stuff so I'm just going to—"

"Meredith!"

"I'm getting married!" She blurted out.

"You are?!" Completely taken by surprise, Joe place a hand on his chest, "Be still, my heart!"

"With Mr. September."

" .Lord! Tell me its love at first sight! That is sooo romantic!" Joe beamed as he clasped his hands together.

"Yea." Feeling much less enthusiastic, Meredith mumbled.

Realization slowly dawned on him; Joe began to giggle like a high school girl. "Oh my God! You're getting married with Mr. September but you haven't broken up with Finn, have you?"

"Shudup!"

It was almost 7 p.m. when Walter arrived at the bar and Joe reluctantly let Meredith leave. She drove straight to Finn's clinic fearing the worst. She knew she would be breaking his heart and nothing could be worse than that. Well, getting herself kicked out of med school because she had no money for tuition was worse, but breaking Finn's heart came pretty close. Finn was the nicest man alive. He was the perfect boyfriend she could ever ask for. He had been nothing but sweet and understanding from the first moment they had met which, according to him, would have been exactly 1 year ago tomorrow. Not that Meredith had that many boyfriends to compare him to, but she just knew he was good for her.

Meredith had never done relationships. She had never had any serious relationships since forever. But Finn was able to convince her otherwise. He was her first serious boyfriend. In fact, he was her first boyfriend, ever, and now she was going to meet him so she could break his heart.

Meredith parked her car and turned off the engine. Reluctant to leave her car, she sat in silence in the comfort of her car for a moment. Finn had been calling her a lot and she hadn't answered any of his calls. It was more than obvious she had been avoiding him. His phone calls had been more frequent today. She knew he had to suspect something. It would have been strange if he hadn't. This was going to be the worst day of her life. Meredith let out a sigh and finally got out of her car. She might as well just get it over with.

The clinic was closed but she knew he was there. He lived upstairs. Where else would he be. The light was still on and his car was still parked out front. She didn't bother to ring the bell but use the key he had given her and let herself in.

"Meredith!" He was right there in the foyer, looking tired and sad. A suitcase next to him, a jacket hung loose in his arm, his eyes lit up at the sight of her.

"Finn!" She was caught a little off-guard. She had expected him to be upstairs in his apartment. Instead, he looked like he was leaving, "Where are you going?!"

"Where have you been? I've been calling you hundreds of times." He sounded worried as he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. "God, I miss you."

"Finn…" That was all she could get out. She opened her mouth and nothing else came out. Everything she had rehearsed in the car was completely forgotten.

He buried his face in her hair, "I've been trying to call you. I need to—"

"Well, there's this thing, you see," completely oblivious to what he was saying, Meredith closed her eyes and mumbled against his chest. She had to say it in one go or she wouldn't be able to say anything at all, "I— I have to, urm… You know my tuition thing and the Roseridge thing and the rent thing... It's kind of… and then there's a New York thing and Las Vegas. Yea, can't forget Las Vegas. I mean, I talked to Professor Jenkins and he was pretty sympathetic. Well, why should he? I basically told him this saddest story about my grandmother that I don't really have and Joe said okay and now I need to tell you. I mean—"

The fact that she was rambling worried him. Anyone who knew Meredith knew she rambled when she was nervous about something. If Meredith weren't so caught up in her speech she would have noticed how worried he looked, "Meri—"

"So, yea, we can't be us and I can't work here anymore, Finn. I'm so sorry." She finished.

"Meredith, look at me." He pulled away just so he could get her to look at him, completely ignoring the last part of her rambling speech.

"I'm so sorry, Finn. But, like I said, the us thing and the work thing… no more."

"Mer, I can't understand a word you said," He gave her a sad smile, "and, as much as I would like to talk to you about this, I'm going to have to put this conversation on hold—and I'm ignoring the last part of your speech, by the way."

She knew this was going to happen, "Oh, no! Finn! You can't! I need to—"

He put a finger to her lips, "I've been trying to call you because my nana who lived in Louisiana passed away. It was very sudden and my grandpa is still in shock over this whole thing. He's all alone over there and I have to go help him with the funeral and everything. My plane leaves tonight. I should be back next week and we will talk about this some more, but in the meantime—"

"Your nana? She lives— I mean, lived. She lived in Louisiana?"

"Yea?"

"Oh, God. No! This is all my fault!" Meredith covered her mouth in total shock. Her face turned pale at his words.

"What is all your fault? Meri, are you okay?"

"Of course, I'm not okay! Your nana is dead because of me! I killed her!"

"What are you talking about?" He looked agitated as he glanced at his watch then back at her, "Mer, you are worrying me and I have to leave. Please tell me you're okay. I don't want to leave you like this."

"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God." Meredith mumbled to herself. She didn't seem to hear him at all.

"Meredith? Honey?" Meredith's behavior puzzled him. He couldn't understand why she thought his nana's death was her fault and he didn't have time to find out. He had to get to the airport right now if he didn't want to miss his flight. He pulled her to him and ran his hand along her back trying to sooth her the best he could, "Everything is going to be okay, honey. You did nothing wrong. You still have a job here, we are not breaking up and I am still very much in love with you. Please say you'll be okay. I hate to leave you like this—"

"I'm okay," slowly, she nodded and mumbled into his chest. She was ridden with so much guilt she couldn't even begin to tell him how sorry she was. "You have a plane to catch."

"I do." He kissed the top of her head, reluctant to leave.

"I'm okay," she mumbled, looking downward, too ashamed to look at him.

"Mer?" He cupped her face, tilting her head upward. Finn tried to stare into her eyes. He would know if she was lying.

"Go already!" She forced a smile on her face and threw her arms around him, kissing the side of his face as she hugged him tightly. "You're gonna miss your flight."

Meredith felt lightheaded. She felt funny in the pit of her stomach. It was like she needed to go to the lady's room but not really. Well, actually, she couldn't really tell what it was like because it was like nothing she had ever experience before. Her legs just wouldn't stand on their own. They felt weak and wobbly like a couple of rubber bands. She had to grab onto the front of Derek's shirt for support. Thank goodness he had his arms around her holding her up because her legs had gone to sleep seconds ago— or it could be minutes… She couldn't be sure. It had gotten a little fuzzy the moment his lips had touched hers. All she wanted was for him to continue on kissing her forever.

"There. That should do it." He murmured against her lips just as he was finally pulling away. His arms, however, were still holding her up because she didn't seem to be able to do it herself.

"Huh? Wawerusayin…?" Unable to form a single coherent word, Meredith leaned to him as she stared straight at his lips as if she was mesmerized by them, wishing they would stay pressed on hers a while longer.

"You liked it, I gathered." His soft chuckle slowly brought her back to reality.

"Huh?" Again, she blinked, coming out of a trance, "Who— Wha—"

Finally, it hit her. Derek Shepherd had just kissed .tongue! Wait— or was it her, urm… She wasn't sure whose tongue was down whose throat first, but… Her face turned red with embarrassment as she wiped her lips with the back of her hands and hissed at him. "What was that for?!"

Now that she was able to stand on her own, Derek stepped back from her. He crossed his arms and chuckled, "What was what for?"

"The kiss! You kissed me! Why did you do that?!" She was furious— or she ought to be furious— or she was trying to sound furious… Anyway, she should be furious at him. What gave him the right to kiss her like that anyway? The kiss definitely wasn't on the contract. If it were, she would have remembered.

"It shut you up, didn't it?" He shrugged nonchalantly before turning around and head for the door, "Can we go now?"

Now Meredith remembered. She had been sitting in her kitchen staring at her leftover grilled cheese sandwich deciding whether she should eat it or throw it away while waiting for Derek to come pick her up so they could go and get married, when Joe had called. So she had been talking to Joe, telling him about what had happened the day before about Finn and his dead grandmother. And being the great friend that Joe had always been, he had gotten her all fired up and freaked out about the whole coincidental thing all over again. And that had been when Derek had showed up at the door and the minute she had seen him, she had hung up the phone and retold the story to Derek all over again. And the next thing she knew, he was shoving his tongue down her throat, or hers down his, she wasn't sure about that insignificant little detail.

"You think this is funny, don't you? You think this is all a joke to you." Refused to follow him out of the room, she crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Stop trying to burn a hole through my face with your stare," he started to sound annoyed. "Meredith, we need to leave now or we're going to miss the flight." He glanced at his watch as he paused at the front door, waiting for her.

Refusing to move an inch, Meredith's voice grew louder as her temper rose, "Can't you see the seriousness of the situation here?"

"No. I don't see how your professor's grandmother going to Louisiana to attend a funeral of some dead fish has anything to do with us."

"What?!" Meredith's eyes bulged, "I didn't say anything about my professor's grandmother! And Finn is not a dead fish! He's not a fish! And, and, and he's not dead! He's my boyfriend— who's neither dead… nor a fish!"

"Have you ever heard yourself talk? Because you should really, really listen to yourself talk sometime." He shook his head and let out a sigh. A soft chuckled could be heard as he pulled the front door open and stepped outside, fully expecting Meredith to run after.

"Smile." The voice was barely audible because Derek was saying it through his teeth and the plane was kind of loud. Other passengers were talking softly among themselves as they were making themselves comfortable in their seats. The fasten seatbelt sign had just been turned off and the flight attendants were preparing to serve some refreshments. This was going to be the longest five and a half hours of his life, he decided.

"I said, 'smile'," he repeated.

"What? Why?" She mumbled. Above all the noises, she finally heard him. Their trip to Las Vegas had been brief and to the point. They had gotten there, gotten married, and come back all within hours. If it weren't for the rings on her fingers, she would have thought the whole thing were nothing but a dream.

"You can't look at your rings and keep frowning like that. People are going to think you married me under duress." Derek reached to grab her left hand and pull it down to her lap.

"Well…." She started fiddling with her rings.

"Meredith… I let you choose those rings, didn't I?" He arched his brow waiting for her reply.

"No! Yes! I don't know! I wanted just a simple wedding band like yours." She pointed at his finger. "These are just—"

"You chose those rings." He reminded her, but he also knew the choices he had given her were quite unfair. The other ring—the ring that a certain someone had explicitly told him to purchase should he ever wanted to marry her, the ring that a certain someone had said over and over how beautiful it had looked on her finger, the ring, the very ring the same certain someone had literally thrown in his face when he had told her he was leaving—was ridiculously big with lots of big diamonds on and all around them.

"Because it was either these or that big ugly thing. The diamonds were so big the ring looked like a big ass hand grenade on my finger!" Still so focused on her rings, Meredith didn't even notice the faraway look on his face.

"There you have it. These are much better. So stop frowning already!" Derek let out a sigh, but he wasn't as annoyed as he had let on. Her rambling was definitely starting to grow on him.

Meredith stretched her hand out in front of her again. She intensely stared at the 2 rings on her finger, "But, still, we weren't engaged. Why would I need to wear an engagement ring? It's soo, sooo, soooo sparkly—I'm allergic to sparkly things. I think a simple gold wedding band—or platinum like yours—works just fine. And now I have to wear both rings at once. This is ridiculous. And my fingers are kinda bony and tiny and diamonds are supposed to make you look all womanly and pretty and it's just not me. I'm, um, Meredith and these don't look Meredithy. Look at them. Look at these two rings. See? They look like I stole them from Paris Hilton or, um, um, someone rich—and we, you and I, both know I'm not rich by any accounts. It just doesn't. And next year! Next year I'm going to be a surgical intern. Surgeons don't wear rings this big. They just don't. My mom was a surgeon. I know these things. Trust me. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing these. Ugh!" Meredith wasn't really talking to him. It was more like a mad rambling to herself. Her head was slightly tilted to one side. Her left hand was stretched out in front as she tried to get a better look at her rings.

"These are just too sparkly, especially the engagement ring. Do I really need to wear that? If I had chosen the grenade one, would I still have to wear the engagement ring?"

"The grenade ring _was_ an engagement ring. And, yes, you'd still have to wear both, the wedding and the engagement rings." He replied halfheartedly knowing if she had actually chosen the other ring, he wouldn't have let her wear it anyway. His friends and family would have recognized it and the whole charade wouldn't have worked. He had asked her to choose only because he had wanted to know if she would go for it. He was glad she hadn't.

I mean, can't I just wear the wedding band? We weren't engaged. Why would I need to wear an engagement ring? If we were engaged, that is, it would have been a different story, but that's definitely not the case and I was thinking that—"

"Meredith." He grabbed her hand to get her attention.

"What?" She turned to stare at him, momentarily forgetting about the rings.

"Don't"

"Don't what?"

"Don't make me kiss you again," he warned.

"Oh, but don't you see—"

"See? Now you're making me think you want me to kiss you again. Do you want me to kiss you again?"

"Good. Stop complaining. You're giving me a headache. Silence is gold. Remember that." Trying to ignore her and shut her out, Derek closed his eyes and turned slightly away. But as soon as he did, the image of another woman came to his mind. She was nothing like Meredith Grey. She loved big ugly rings with lots of diamonds. In fact, she loved all the expensive named brands, regardless of how ridiculous they looked on her. That ring—the grenade ring, as Meredith now called it—was big, ugly and extremely expensive and looked where it got him. This was why it was necessary for him to get the perfect rings this time. He needed to get Meredith something beautiful, really beautiful—something his family would take one look at and believed he was actually in love with this girl… Something as beautiful as Meredith… Something that would convince his family and friends his marriage was for real.

They were on their way to New York. Their plane would be landing within a couple of hours. Meredith quietly stared at the man sleeping in the next seat. He was her husband now, and she was his wife. It felt very strange, indeed. She knew they weren't really married and this was all a façade but it felt strange nonetheless. She didn't know if she was ready to face his friends and family. She hoped she was but she was sure she wasn't. Meredith leaned back into the seat as she fiddled with her rings while staring at her so-called husband. She was Mrs. Derek Shepherd now and she would remain so for two years. She had better gotten used to it.

Pulling a piece of paper out of her shirt pocket, she went over the list again. It was the list Derek had given her. It was the list of things he loved, things he hated, names of his nieces and nephews, places they had been together, etc. The list went on and on. She had memorized them all but this entire situation was getting on her nerve and may be reading the list again would calm her down a bit. It would keep her mind off of him, or not. Meredith couldn't be sure. She fiddled with her rings as her eyes stayed focused on the piece of paper, her husband asleep next to her.

Derek had been trying to sleep but was failing miserably. He couldn't stop thinking about what was waiting for him in New York. He knew his family well enough to know that they would hunt him down if he had left for Seattle without a word. He knew them well enough to know they would not rest until they knew he was all right. He just hoped he and Meredith pulled this off.

The 5 women in his life—his mom and his 4 sisters—meant a lot to him. Beth and Meg, his two younger sisters, would be more incline to believe him, he hoped. He knew he was their favorite. They had always gotten along so well in the past. He just hoped his charm work on them this time. The two older sisters, Kathleen and Nancy, on the other hand, were the skeptical ones. Kathleen was a shrink, it was only natural she read a lot into things. But Kath had a good head on her shoulders. She was the most level-headed one of the bunch. Derek was hoping he would be able to make her see his reason—the reason being he had met Meredith and fell madly in love with her—and let him off the hook easily. Nancy, on the other hand, was neither a shrink nor had a good head on her shoulders. She could be downright nasty if she wanted to. Hell, she was nasty even when she didn't. But he wasn't worried about her. It was mom that he was worried about. Derek wondered if he could pull this off. Nothing could fool his mom, it seemed. But he also knew she was a sucker for love stories and a hopeless romantic. He just hoped she believed he and Meredith were _that_ in love.

Derek let out a sign as he finally opened his eyes and turned to look at the tiny woman sitting next to him. His wife was pretty. If he weren't so biased, he would have had to admit that sometime her smile took his breath away. It shouldn't be that hard to act 'in love' with her, should it? A piece of paper laid wrinkly in her lap, her mouth agape open but only slightly, her brows furrowed. He knew there were so many things that worried her, her vet of a boyfriend didn't even know he got dump, her professor thought her grandmother was dead, her mom had Alzheimer, and her best friend was a gay bartender with a motor-mouth. It was reasonable that she worried so much. In a way, he felt bad for her. He also knew he was responsible for some of her worries. And before nightfall, before they met his family, he would have to tell her about the very reason behind this charade—the one redheaded reason he had been reluctant to talk about. He needed to prepare her for what was to come. It was the least he could do.

His thought was interrupted by Meredith's movement. She shifted in her seat and leaned further into his arm. Her brows furrowed even more as she did. Derek stared down at her and, without thinking; his arm automatically went around her back and pulled her to him. Instinctively, he placed a kiss on her head as she mumbled something inaudibly and buried her face further in the crook of his neck. Not that it felt nice to have her asleep in his arm like that, he reasoned, he just needed to get used to this. They had to act like they were in love. They were husband and wife, after all. If they were going to do a lot of hugging and kissing in front of his family, it would be better if they started practicing it now.


	3. Chapter 3

Meredith woke up with her head buried in the crook of a man's neck. She felt disoriented for a moment, thinking it was one of her usual morning-afters. But then she realized she didn't have a hangover nor had she had any sex the previous night, and the man seated next to her wasn't her one-night-stand. He was her husband and she was, in fact, on a plane heading for New York.

Yes, the man seated next to her whose chest she had been using as a pillow was actually her husband. He was her lawfully wedded husband who happened to smell really nice. Meredith kept her eyes closed a bit longer as she took in his scent. His arm wrapped loosely around her. It felt strangely natural and very, very nice. She could really learn to love this. Oh, shit, she shouldn't learn to love anything! This was work, plain and simple.

Her own heart started to beat a little faster at the realization of how physically close they were. This intimacy was so unexpected and new. Not that she hadn't fallen asleep in a man's arms before; it's just that no other man's arms had made her feel like this. It was weird, yet, strangely familiar and comforting at the same time.

The fasten seatbelt sign had been turned on. They were preparing for landing and she needed to pull away so they could both put their seats in the upright position. Meredith wondered if he was asleep. She hoped that he was. She hoped he didn't notice she had been using his chest as a pillow. It would be beyond awkward if he knew.

"Damnit, get a hold of yourself, Meredith Gre— Meredith Shepherd. Shepherd! Shepherd! Shepherd! Meredith Shepherd, you idiot!" She muttered quietly to herself, "and he's Derek. Derek! Derek! Derek!"

"Good. Now that you're awake, can I have my arm back?" His voice was soft as he pulled his arm back from her and tried to stretch. She couldn't tell if he was amused or annoyed.

"Oh, ah, um, yea… Sorry." Meredith wondered how much he heard her stupid rambling. She did her best to look indifferent as she pulled herself away and sat up straight. Her hair was in total disarray. Her blouse wrinkled beyond repair. The seams of his shirt left interesting imprints on her cheek.

"It's good to know you find my chest so comfortable," Derek grinned. He thought she looked funny and adorable, just like one of his nieces on Christmas morning. Except she wasn't his niece and he didn't feel toward her as one. She was his wife and it would be beyond disgusting to think of her as his niece—not that she was a real wife, and not that he saw her as a little girl. She was a grown woman. He knew that. In fact, he could still remember how her breasts had been pressing up against his chest when she had been asleep and using his body as her pillow just now. So as quickly as it appeared, the smile disappeared from his face. He turned away from her and stared out the window.

JFK was crowded beyond belief. Not that Meredith hadn't been to New York before, it's just that she had never remembered the airport to be this crowded. And her husband's sudden cold shoulder didn't help to make anything better either. From the moment she had woken up, he had been nothing but cold—not that he had been much nicer toward her. But, still, this silent treatment was killing her. Meredith got a feeling he was angry about something. She wanted to know what it was but was afraid to ask. So she decided to just quietly follow him out to the taxi stand.

"Derek? Derek!" A man's voice stopped both of them in their track. Meredith felt her husband's body stiffened. He let out a sigh before casting a brief glance her way as if to tell her to be ready and on guard.

"Hey!" Her husband turned to face the owner of the voice. She felt his smile was a little forced.

The man approaching them was a little taller than her husband. His short blonde hair and strong physique made him look like a model in that black leather jacket, Meredith thought.

"Where the hell have you been, man?!" The man didn't wait for Derek's reply. He threw his arms around her husband and gave him a hug and a couple of slaps on his back. It was a hug of friends who knew each other well.

Meredith could tell it was making her husband uncomfortable, not that he didn't know the newcomer. From his body language, she could tell Derek knew this guy very well. But there was something that made him uncomfortable and she had some pretty good idea what it was.

"Hey, man. Enough already!" Derek chuckled as he pulled himself away.

"Just be grateful I hugged you at all! I should have smacked you, that's what I should have done. Do you know how many times a day your mom calls me? Not to mention you most annoying sisters—" The man finally noticed Meredith. His eyes sparkled with curiosity, "well, hello there—"

"Don't every try." Derek interrupted. His arm went protectively around her. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn he was jealous. But she knew better and that wasn't possible.

The guy just grinned at Meredith. She thought it was hilarious how the guy just went straight to undress her with his eyes right in front of Derek like it was the most natural thing to do, "If you're not gonna introduce us—"

"Hey! Stop that! She's off limit!" Derek glared at the guy. His arm tightened around her.

But the guy wasn't intimidated at all. On a contrary, he looked curious and amused, "Is that so?"

Meredith found the entire scene rather funny and entertaining. There was something about the exchange that made her less of a nervous wreck.

Derek let out a sigh. His voice grew softer as he turned to her and began, "Meri, this is my friend, Mark Sloan, Dr. Mark Sloan." Derek finally introduced them. Taking a deep breath as he continued, "Mark, this is my wife, Meredith. Meredith Shepherd."

"Come again?" Mark blinked. His mouth hung open. He stared back and forth between his friend and the pretty woman standing next to Derek. He even shook her hand when she offered it, but his friend's words didn't quite register.

"Shut your mouth, Mark." Seeing how shocked his friend was, Derek was even more nervous. His original plan was to get to the hotel, tell his wife all about the other stuff that she needed to know, then give Mark a call and see if they could this off, in that order. Meeting his friend here was unexpected. They were unprepared. But if there was anyone they needed to fool it was Mark. If he could fool Mark, he could fool his sisters. Derek consciously put a hand on his wife's back and pulled her a little closer. He placed a kiss on her temple before whispering softly to her, "Just follow my lead and act like you know exactly what we're talking about."

Meredith looked surprised but only for a split second. She cast a nervous glance at his friend before leaning a little closer to Derek in silent response to his message.

"Wait— wha— I mean, when— but wha—" Mark stopped himself for a second and took a deep breath. "Okay, let me try again."

Mark cast a bright smile at Meredith and offer his hand, "Hello, I'm Mark Sloan, Derek's very best friend, in fact, I'm his only friend, you know, the kind of friend who knows everything there is to know about him, the kind of friend who would be by his side through good times and bad, the kind of friend whom he would tell his inner most secrets to, the kind of friend would be his best man at his wedding—all of his weddings, in fact. That is, if there is to be more than one wedding, which isn't even the case anymore, because there was going to be a wedding but the bitch fucked— excuse me, I mean messed, the bitch messed— okay, calling her a bitch was a little harsh—"

"Mark…" Derek interrupted. He had to give his wife some credit. Meredith must have been so confused by now, but she acted so calm and collected. She was turning out to be better than he had expected. Mark, on the other hand, was the one that worried him. Derek had never seen his friend acting like this before. Mark looked angry, hurt, and confused and Derek knew it was all his fault.

"Excuse us," finally, Mark decided it was best that they had this talk in private. He cast Meredith an apologetic smile before dragging Derek to the side, "Let me borrow your husband for a second."

Derek planted a quick kiss on Meredith's lips before walking off to the side with his friend, knowing full well Mark's eyes were on them. Thank goodness his wife didn't shy away from his kiss. In fact, she almost kissed him back and it was nice. He hoped his friend bought it.

"What is it?" Derek arched his brow while his friend looked back and forth between him and his wife.

"I don't know. You tell me." Mark muttered to himself quietly, all the while eyeing his friend and the woman curiously.

"What is there to tell," Derek shrugged, "Listen, we have to leave. It's a nice surprise meeting you here but—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Where are you going? Where are you staying?" Mark saw their luggage. It didn't look like a mere overnight stay. And as far as he knew, Derek no longer had a place to stay. Mark knew his friend had put his brownstone house up for sale the moment all hell had broken loose and Derek had left town.

"A hotel." Derek shrugged.

"Oh, no, you don't. You and your pretty wife are staying with me," Mark wasn't prepared to let his friend out of his sight again. "You owe me, man."

"I owe you? Is that so?" Derek arched his brow, he was curious as to what and how he owed his friend.

"I had to put up with your sisters in your absence, not to mention Addison! You owe me, Shep. You're coming with me and you're gonna tell me everything there is to know." His voice grew a little softer as he was afraid Meredith would hear, "and what are you doing with her. She's very pretty, I'll give you that, but what are you doing, Shep? Marrying your midlife crisis? I have nothing against rebounds, but marrying her? She looks young enough to be your—"

"Hey! Shut it!" Derek warned. His glare was deadly and it surprised the hell out of Mark.

"Fine! But you both are coming with me." Mark muttered as he turned to grab their luggage.

No matter what Derek said or tried, Mark wouldn't let go of their luggage. Their little argument started to draw a crowd. It was getting to the point of ridiculousness and in the end Derek had to let Mark have his way. But at that point, all Meredith could feel was relief. Derek had to call the hotel and cancel their reservation. He insisted, however, that they and Mark took separate cabs. He said he needed some alone time with his wife but Mark agreed to his demand only because he took their luggage with him as collateral. This way, he knew for sure Derek and his wife would run out on him.

As soon as Mark left with their belongings and they were alone in the cab, Derek went right to do what he needed to. He turned her to the side so she could face him. He needed her full attention for this. And before he could change his mind, he began, "I was engaged to be married to a woman named Addison Montgomery, Doctor Addison Montgomery. Then one day I came home and found her in bed with another man. So I just got up and left."

"Oh…" was all Meredith could reply. The way he said it was so matter-of-factly and fast. She understood his every word but the whole thing was almost unbelievable. She just couldn't understand how he could be so calm and collected. "Does Mark— um…"

"He knows." Derek nodded. And when he noticed how her eyes grew soft, his own hardened, "I don't want your pity. I got over it. I'm fine."

Realizing how she must have looked, Meredith protested, "Oh, I'm not— I mean, I— Is that why you needed to be married?"

He let out a sigh but kept his eyes on the road. It was easier to stare at something else and not her face. He just couldn't afford to get emotional over this. "I need a wife because as far as my mom and my sisters are concerned, they think I'm a wreck. I want you to convince them that I'm not. I want you to convince them that I'm happily married so they will stop worrying about me."

"You're saying your family, they know…" Meredith stared at him as he stared straight ahead. He had this faraway look on his face. She got a feeling he still hadn't told her everything but was reluctant to press him for anymore.

"By now I would think so. Mark can never keep a secret. Whatever he knows, my family does too—and that's why Mark can never know our marriage is not real."

"Oh, um, okay." She nodded slowly, trying to take everything in.

"And I'm sure you'll soon meet Addison."

"I will?" She arched her brow in surprise.

"It's unavoidable. She's one of my business partners, and that will last until I sell my practice. You're going to have to convince her too that we are happily married."

He just said it as if it was her responsibility when it was obvious she couldn't do this alone. Meredith arched her brow. She didn't mean to get offensive but it was getting hard not to, "and you're expecting me to do that all by myself because…?"

He shot her a glare, "Of course not! Don't be ridiculous. I know what I'm doing. I just hope you do as well."

"I know what I'm doing too," she hissed back but her heart broke a little as she suddenly realized how strong he was trying to be. All these harsh remarks were just a façade. His words said one thing while his eyes were saying a million other things and it was breaking her heart. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold it together as well as he did if this were happening to her. So, right then and there, Meredith decided, she would do whatever it took to help him. "You have nothing to worry about, Derek. I know what I'm doing."

She studied him quietly as she reached over and covered his hand with hers. Her action surprised Derek but he didn't pull his hand back. His feature softened a little. Silently lacing her fingers with his, she squeezed his hand lightly as if trying to reassure him. His lips curled into a faint smile at her gesture. He looked a little more relaxed as she added, "I'm a really good actor, Derek. My acting is so good they're gonna want to give me an Emmy for this."

Meredith followed her husband into Mark's bachelor pad nervously, all the while thinking about her conversation with Derek…

"I'm a really good actor, Derek. My acting is so good they're gonna want to give me an Emmy for this."

"Good, I'm counting on that because now we're staying with Mark. We're gonna have to share a room and act all married 24/7."

…and now all she wanted was to take back her words. Who said she was a good actor? She couldn't even fool herself that she was one. She had only said it just to make him feel a little better and lighten his mood. But if truth be told, Meredith Grey was, to quote one of her friends, the worst liar in the history of mankind. All her friends and the people who knew her well enough had told her times and times again how bad of a liar she was. Everyone would agree on this, Meredith was sure, everyone except Professor Jenkins who had naively believed her stupid dead grandmother story. But Meredith didn't think Mark and the rest of Derek's family would all be like Prof. Jenkins. She let out a sigh as she realized the enormity of work that had been cut out for her.

"Hey, it's not gonna be that bad, honey," Derek's arm went around her as he pulled her closer before planting a kiss on her temple. The way he said 'honey' told Meredith Mark was right behind them.

Even if it was just to prove to herself she was getting good at this, Meredith casually flung her arm around his waist and smile up at him, "I know. I know."

"Good." Derek chuckled, almost convinced she was really fine.

"C'mon, let me show you to your room." Mark approached. He turned his phone off and helped Derek with the luggage, all the while eyeing them curiously as if he was trying to find fault with them.

"Stop looking at my wife like that, Sloan." Derek hissed quietly as he picked up one of the luggage and walked pass him.

"Like what?" Mark tried to catch up. He only shrugged like he did nothing wrong, "you almost convince me, man. You both almost convince me. I almost believe you were really 'in love' with the girl."

"'The girl' has a name. Use it, Sloan." Derek glared at his friend. It was strange how little things like this could even upset him, "She's my wife and her name is Meredith. You can call her that.

"Sorry, man." Mark studied his friend closely as they set the luggage in one corner of the spacious guest room, amazed by the level of protectiveness Derek felt toward his new wife. He had never seen Derek act like this in all the years his friend had been together with Addison or any other girls for that matter.

Meredith decided not to follow those men to the guest room. Seeing a bedroom with only one bed in it would only make her even more nervous than she already was. Derek hadn't said much about it. The only thing he had said was that they had to share a room. She guessed they would have to come to some agreeable arrangement tonight but she would cross that bridge when she came to it or whatever.

Instead, she took the opportunity to familiarize herself with Mark's place and explore his penthouse by herself. The penthouse was like a page out of some high-end design magazines, a 52" flat screen TV on one wall, a very large, and very expensive-looking black and white painting on another, the infamous Charles Eames Lounge chair and ottoman arranged neatly in one corner, and a couple of Wassily chairs were placed close by. The entire place looked spotless and immaculate. Meredith was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a gray turtleneck and she was the most colorful object in the room. The place was so clean and colorless she would surely have nightmares if she had to stay here permanently.

"I know, I think I can perform surgeries in here if I want to," a familiar voice was laced with humor. With a smile on her face, Meredith turned around to face Derek. The two men came right back into the living room after putting their stuff in the guest room. Mark stopped to check his answering machine for any messages while Derek walked right over to her.

For some strange reason, the fact that her husband knew exactly what she was thinking about Mark's place made her surprisingly happy. Her smile matched his as he casually took her hand and led her over to the couch, "my sister Beth didn't like it either. She said—"

"…that my house is so clean she's afraid to fart in here." Mark finished it for him with a teasing glare.

"Well, she didn't put it exactly like that." Derek shook his head as he looked at his friend. "I bet Beth would love to know you said that."

"I was paraphrasing, of course!" Mark rolled his eyes at his friend and followed them over to the couch. "But I dare you to tell her, my friend. At this point, I would be glad if you call her at all."

Eager to change topic, Derek started, "Get my wife something to drink, Mark. Don't be such a bad host. Mom taught you better than that."

"I was going to. Jeez!" Mark walked into the kitchen and soon reappeared with 3 bottles of beer. "Sorry, this is all I have. It's either this or tap water."

Mark placed a couple of coasters on the coffee table and set the bottles on them. He himself walked over to the couch on the opposite site and threw himself down. "Talking about Beth, Derek, you need to cancel the call barring, man."

"What call barring?" Derek arched his brow in surprise—not at the question but at the fact that Mark even knew what he had done. He had his sisters' and mother's numbers banned because they wouldn't stop calling and he didn't have the guts to answer their calls. But it was obvious that Mark knew. Derek muttered, "They wouldn't stop calling."

"Yea, shame on you. Call the phone company and have it changed. I'm tired of having mom and your sisters calling me 20 times a day just to complain about it!" As soon as Mark said it, his cell phone started to vibrate. And as soon as he saw who was calling, Mark's face turned into a wicked smile.

He threw his phone at Derek and got up. "You're here now. Why don't you talk to her yourself? I gotta go. I'll see ya later."

And before Derek could reply, Mark grabbed his leather jacket and walked out the door, leaving him to stare at the vibrating phone on his lap.

Meredith's eyes followed Mark out the door before traveling back to Derek and the cell phone in his lap, "Shouldn't you answer it or something?"

"What I should do and what I want to do are two completely different things." Derek let out a sigh and he picked up the phone and pressed the button to answer it. "Hello, this is Mark's phone…"

"I know that—" The person on the other end stopped for a split of a second. It was obvious she was taken by surprise. "Derek? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," Derek couldn't help but smiled into the phone, bracing himself for the worst. Beth was loud and she talked faster than the speed of a flying bullet.

"Derek—as in my brother the idiot Derek? Derek! Is that you? Yes, it's you! Oh my god! Is this for real? Yes! Yes, it's for real! How are you?! I've been so worried about you. We all have! Are you with Mark? Of course you're with him. This is his phone! But where are you? Are you at Mark's? You're at Mark's, aren't you?! Are you okay? You're okay, right? Please tell me you are so I can go over there and kill you myself! Derek? Derek! Are you still listening to me?! Stop grinning and talk to me! Goddamnit, say something!"

"Well, if you would stop long enough to let me talk," Derek chuckled. It was great to hear her voice. He missed her. Beth was one of his favorites. Derek just couldn't stop grinning as he prepared himself for another scream session.

"Don't start with me, Derek Michael Shepherd! [A/N: so sue me but I prefer Michael to Christopher!] I'm mad at you, really, really mad at you!"

"Breathe, Beth, breathe," With Beth, talking and breathing never mixed. Derek didn't know if laughing into the phone would be appropriate at this time. His sister was pissed and she would definitely want to bite his head off if he laughed. But then, again, she was going to kill him anyway, with or without him laughing.

"Shut up!" She barked into the phone. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be there first thing tomorrow— Shit! I have surgery tomorrow morning. Tomorrow evening then— shit! Double shit! No, wait— the day after tomorrow! Yes! I'll be there the day after tomorrow! First thing! Don't you dare run away again, Derek! I mean it!"

"Beth! Breathe! I really don't think that you should—"

"Don't! Don't think. Don't talk. Don't move. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do— No, I mean— don't do anything, period! Don't do nothing until I get there. I need to talk to you first or mom is going to have a heart attack if she knows you're back!"

"Thank you. I need to talk to you first. Don't tell anyone just yet, please—"

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for mom. Shit! I have to go. I'm late for my surgery. You stay put. Don't leave! I'm serious! I'm still mad at you. I love you. I miss you, and I'm gonna kill you! See ya!" And with that, she hung up.

Meredith studied her husband as he talked on the phone. She couldn't decide if he looked more like a kid who was about to pull off another successful prank or getting his vaccine shots. It was everything mixed together. For the first time since she met him, Derek didn't look so sad. There was only a brief moment of sadness in his eyes but it was brief and barely noticeable. Meredith looked down at her hand and considered pulling it away from his hold. She wondered if he even realized he was holding it. His fingers laced with hers. His thumb nonchalantly caressed the back of her hand as he listened to his sisters talking on the phone. Meredith couldn't make out what the person on the other end was saying but she definitely was screaming the entire time. Meredith could hear the scream loud and clear. It was even confirmed by Derek pulling the phone away from his ear from time to time.

Finally, the conversation ended. He turned the phone off and turned to face her. It was hard to tell from the look on his face how the conversation had gone, but she knew it wasn't as bad as he had thought. She arched her brow as if to question, "So? What did she say?"

"Beth—that's my sister Beth by the way, and she's coming to see us… well, to see me—as you could see, she didn't let me talk so she still doesn't know about us. She's coming here the day after tomorrow."

"Oh… the heart surgeon married to a John Reynolds, another doctor of some sort," Meredith tried to recall the information she had memorized, "where is she now?"

"Johns Hopkins, so it's not that far. But Beth is all barks and no bite. You have nothing to worry about," he reassured her before changing the subject, "Now, about our sleeping arrangement…"

"Yea, about that…" Meredith suddenly felt awkward and weird. She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms, feeling nervous all of the sudden.

"I'll sleep on the floor or something," he suggested.

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that," she knew she would feel bad if he did, "I mean, we're adults, aren't we? We can share a bed. It's okay. We'll just… share. Yea, we'll share the bed. It'll be okay. We know what we're doing and we'll be sleeping. That's what we'll be doing," she twirled the watched around her wrist nervously and she tried to reason and be as rational as she could.

"Meredith, I think you should go see the room before you suggest that we share the bed." His eyes softened as he spoke. Derek got up and waited for her, "c'mon, let's go. I'll show you to our room."

Comments are highly appreciated


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm really sorry about the lateness.. it's been a busy weekend! I may be updating less frequently because of some carzyness going on with my family right now..but be patient with me I promise I will update as soon as I can! This is all I have written so far  
and comments are highly appreciated. **

Meredith turned the TV on and turned the volume down really low before quietly sitting down on Mark's designer's couch. It was well after midnight and she was wide-awake in the living room. The room Mark had put them in had a full-size bed. That had been why Derek had said she should have think twice before suggesting they shared the bed. But what was she to do? He had been nothing but nice to her. How could she make him sleep on the floor? Plus, the room didn't have a lock. What if Mark walked in? Then he would find out they weren't really what they had said they were and all this would have been for nothing.

So they had decided to share the bed—for lack of a better solution. They had gone to bed with their backs facing each other. The bed was so small their backs touched from time to time. But exhaustion had soon kicked in the both of them had finally fallen asleep.

All would have been fine if she were able to sleep through till morning. But that wasn't the case. Sometime in the middle of the night, she had woken up to find her husband's face merely inches away from hers. They were so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. His mouth gaped open but only slightly. His hands tucked beneath his head as he slept. Meredith just couldn't stop staring at him. His long eyelashes mesmerized her. In fact, every feature on his face mesmerized her. The longer she stared the more she wanted to reach her hand over and touch his face. It made her want to move her face a little closer and— um, and do something. She wanted to run her fingers through his unruly hair. She wanted to touch the scar on his forehead… and may be kissed his crooked nose—

That was why Meredith found herself in the living room in the middle of the night. She would have jumped her husband in his sleep if she had stayed in bed any longer.

"Couldn't sleep, I see." Mark's voice almost made her jump.

But all Meredith did was tightened the robe around her petite body and gave him a polite smile, "Mark."

"Hi," Derek's friend tightened his own navy blue robe around his body as he joined her, taking a seat at the other end of the couch. Judging from the appearance, Meredith didn't think he wore anything underneath the robe. "I'm worried about him, you know. We all are."

Mark's admission surprised her. She knew he was Derek's friend but something in his voice was telling her these men were closer than brother and he was genuinely concerned about Derek.

"Derek is okay now. He's fine," she did the best she could to reassure him.

Mark let out a sigh and smiled a little, "Yea, well, it's kinda strange to see him this in love, to tell you the truth. I mean, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes."

"Oh." His admission surprised Meredith.

"He's very much in love with you. I hope you know that. Please don't break his heart." His voice was serious and, yet, sincere.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Derek is the kindest man I've even met." She thought she should be as truthful as she could. Mark seemed like a nice guy. She didn't want to lie to him anymore than she already did.

He chuckled a little at her attempt to convince him, "I'm telling you, he's in love with you. I have known him all his life. I _know_ him. And he wasn't even like this when he was with Addison— You know about Addison, right?"

"Yes, she broke his heart. But I'm not her. You don't have to worry about that," she tried to reassure him.

"Oh, no one is like Addison, thank God for that. One Addison is one too many."

"I can understand why you're concerned about this. But please rest assured I'm not going to hurt him. Derek is okay now." Meredith didn't know what else she could say.

Mark studied her quietly. He was looking at her for a long time without saying a word and it was making her uncomfortable. But before she could think of something to say, he began, "You don't know the whole sordid detail about what she did, do you?"

"About Addison, you mean?" Meredith had to admit Derek hadn't said much on the subject at all. But given the nature of it, who was she to ask him for more information.

"I'm not a snitch. I'm great at keeping secrets. But I think you should know the truth, considering you're now his wife and you'll most likely be running into her soon. I want you to know what you're up against. I want you to know what Derek had been through. It's only fair."

"Oh, okay," her heart was beating a little faster now that he looked so serious.

"It was Saturday night—their date night. It was raining hard and Derek hated to go out when it rained. But Addison wouldn't have any of that. She didn't care. She wasn't the one doing the driving so she could care less if it rained or not."

"You don't really like her, do you?" She gave him a sad smile.

"Is it that obvious?" Mark chuckled a little before he continued, "They were supposed to go out, but there was this emergency surgery and we were stuck at the hospital."

"So the date got canceled."

"Yes, the date got canceled. But then the patient died and we got to go home early. So I went back with him to his place. We thought we could order something and eat in, just the three of us, you know."

"You were there too?"

"Yes, we were all friends from med school. I, Derek, and Alan—that mother fuc— The three of us have known each other all our lives. We were friends—or at least Derek and I thought we were. But Addison… Derek started dating her when we were in med school."

"Alan?" Meredith didn't think she had heard that name before and was even more surprised by Mark's tone of voice when he said the guy's name.

"Alan, Addison, me, and Derek… we were partners, business partners. We opened our practice together here in Manhattan, all of us. Together. We were partners and we were friends—or at least we thought we were." It seemed like he was somewhere else far away when he told her.

"Anyway, I was there, that night, when it happened. So you can trust me when I tell you I know what happened. I was there and I saw it with my own eyes."

All Meredith could do was nod. She didn't know what else to say in this situation. Mark glanced at her briefly before he turned to stare out the window. It was as if he couldn't bear to let her see the pain in his eyes, "It was pouring outside when we got to Derek's house."

His eyes turned a darker shade of blue as he continued, "the whole house was in total darkness. It was like no one was home. We figured Addison, being pissed that her date got canceled and all, had gone out with some friends."

Mark let out a sigh. It was like he was getting to the part he dreaded the most, "Derek and I, we were soaking from heads to toes. So he went upstairs to change and I followed. But then as we walked up the stairs… there was this— what can I tell you… I've been to his place a thousand times. So I know his place as if it were my own."

He cast a brief glance at her and quickly looked away as soon as he realized he still had her full attention, "Despite all the messiness there, I knew where they put their things. The journals that had Addison's work— the journals she had wanted Derek to read a year before were still left forgotten on the steps. Addison's gigantic piles of shoeboxes were still stacked up against the wall on the landing…"

Mark painted the picture so vividly Meredith felt like she could see it happen before her very eyes. The chills ran down her spine as his voice grew softer, "Things were messy as usual. Not Derek. He's not the messy one. It's Addison. Her stuff was all over the house. But I remember where everything was. I had been there so many times. Nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing, except the jacket on the floor in front of his bedroom. It was a dark brown Paul Smith Jacket, you know, the one with leather trim on the back. I and Derek knew this so vividly well only because Addison had suggested we bought the freaking jacket for Alan on his birthday."

Where was so much anguish and pain in his voice as he continued, "So there we were staring at the jacket in total silence. But it wasn't a complete silence, you see. It was pouring hard outside. So we could hear the rain and the sound of the wind, and then there was this recurring sound coming from the bedroom. You know, the kind of recurring sound you shouldn't be hearing coming from inside your own bedroom when you are the one standing outside of it. So it wasn't that much of a surprise when Derek opened the door and found Addison, his fiancé—the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with—and Alan, his friend and business partner, in the throw of passion right on his bed."

His eyes turned a cloudy shade of blue as he paused to clear his throat. Meredith held her breath as she tried to blink away her unshed tears. The pain she felt for Derek was overwhelming to an unrealistic level. Mark turned slightly and looked straight into her eyes, "So, you see, it is very important to me that you're nothing like Addison. She hurt him pretty badly and he wasn't even in love with her. But you, he's in love with you, Meredith. It would kill him if you break his heart so please don't. Don't be another Addison."

Hours later Mark's words were still loud and clear in her mind as Meredith lied next to her husband's sleeping form. His brow still furrowed even in his sleep. Before she could stop herself, Meredith reached over and touched the side of his face. As soon as she did, he leaned into her touch like it was the most natural thing to do. And instead of pulling away, Meredith surprised herself. She moved closer and put her arms around her husband. His arms automatically went around her. Meredith let out a sigh and buried her face in his chest. She would worry about it later, but right now all she wanted was to hug her husband.

These years were going to be pure torture. She was falling for him fast and she didn't know how to stop herself. May be if she was lucky he would fall for her too and they wouldn't have to get divorce. It was childish but it had been a long day and she was sleepy. Meredith shrugged at her silly thoughts before drifting off to sleep. The bed had never felt this comforting before.

Derek had a dream. He thought he was on a steam engine boat. But then he woke up and realized it wasn't a boat at all. It was his wife. She was snoring so loud he was sure even his friend Mark could hear. How something so small could make such loud noise was beyond him. If he weren't so tired, he would sure have trouble falling asleep.

Derek stared down at her as he made a mental note to get himself some earplugs today. But despite the snoring, he thought she looked adorable when she slept. But soon the snoring stopped, telling him she must be waking up.

"Hmm… you're weird," smiling but only slightly, she murmured before moving into his arms and burying her face in his chest. Her arms snaked around his torso while her eyes were still closed. Her behavior surprised him, but who was he to complain.

"How so?" He chuckled as he lazily put his arms around her. And when she didn't seem to mind, he gently placed a kiss on the top of her head. He thought she smelled like some kind of flowers.

"You were watching me sleep." Only half awake, she mumbled with her eyes closed.

"Correction: I was watching you snore." He chuckled and felt her sharp elbow jabbing his torso. Just as more words were about to be exchanged, Derek's cell phone rang and he got out of bed to answer it. Meredith decided to get up and went into the bathroom to get ready and to give her husband some privacy.

By the time she came out, Derek was no where in sight. So Meredith followed the smell of coffee into the kitchen and found the two guys talking quietly as they sipped their coffee. As soon as they noticed her, Derek got up and got her a cup. He placed it right next his as she took a seat. Mark looked on with a curious grin.

"What?" Meredith grinned back. She arched her brow as she raised the cup to her lips.

"Your husband must really love you, Meredith." Mark smirked. Derek made to comment except chuckled at his friend's remark.

"You snored like a trucker, Meredith. I could even hear you! And my room is way down the hall!"

"I do not!" Mortified by Mark's comment, Meredith ineffectively hid her little face behind the coffee mug as she muttered to her husband, "Shouldn't you say something to your friend in my defense?"

"No," Derek shrugged before taking another sip of his own coffee. "Oh, and do you see these dark circles?" Derek touched the little areas under his eyes to make his point, "you put them there, dear wife."

"Are you saying I snored so loud you couldn't sleep?" Meredith's eyes widened. She was between shocked and surprised.

"So you're admitting you snored." Mark added.

"No!" Meredith was this close to swatting Mark's arm, "I'm not admitting anything. You two are just soooo ugh!"

Good thing Derek put a bowl in front of her and started pouring some muesli and milk into it, "Here eat your breakfast. It may help with your snoring."

"Yea, we eat muesli almost every day and we don't snore." Mark added before quickly got out of his seat and away from Meredith's reach. His laugh was loud as he left the room leaving Meredith and her husband alone in the kitchen.

Derek watched his wife as she stared down at the muesli bowl. His mind was somewhere else. His earlier conversation with Mark was still loud in his mind...

_"What are you doing, man?" Mark sounded worried, looking beyond his friend making sure Meredith wasn't close by._

"What do you mean?" Derek tried to sound indifferent.

Mark lowered his voice, "It's only been a week since—"

Derek stopped his friend. He knew what had happened. He didn't want to be reminded of it, "Don't even say it, man!"

"Derek! You just took off without a word and now you're back, with a wife! How am I supposed to think?!" Mark muttered. "Your wife looks like a nice girl, but it's only been a week! It's just—"

"I had to go to Seattle. You remember I got an invitation from U-Dub?" Derek explained.

"They wanted you to speak at that thing…" Mark nodded. He remembered the invitation because he got one too.

"See? You remember."

Still Mark didn't look like he was buying it. "One week is too short. You don't fall in love and get married in a week, Derek. And in your case, there's also that—"

"Mark…" Derek sighed. "What I had with Addison wasn't love. I had never loved her but I hadn't realized that until I met Meredith. Now I know. I love my wife, man. I took one look at her and I just knew. We met. We fell in love. We got married. End of story."

"I'm beginning to believe you really are in love with that girl, Shep, but this is all just so… what's the word…"

Derek stared his friends in the eyes, "Mark, I love her. That's all that matters for me right now. Why can't we just leave it at that?"

There must be something in his voice that stopped his friend from further interrogation. Mark got up to pour himself another cup of coffee and no more words were exchanged.

Derek let out a sigh. He knew how Mark's mind worked and this surely wasn't the end of it. It was hard enough trying to convince Mark. Derek couldn't help but worried about when they finally talked to his mother.

"Oh God, it's going to be a very bad day. I can feel it." Looking at the sky, Meredith mumbled to herself as she got into the cab. Her stomach was growling very loudly. She hated to complain, especially when Derek was being all scarily quiet. In fact, he had been suspiciously quiet since breakfast. He hadn't even complained when she had refused to eat muesli. But now she was really hungry and her stomach was growling.

"It's your own fault you're hungry." He muttered as he climbed into the cab after her. Meredith glared at him as she silently restrained herself from reaching over and swatting him in the arm. It amazed her what hunger could do. Her husband seemed less intimidating and wasn't as scary when she was this hungry.

"I refuse to eat dried leaves and twigs for breakfast! Muesli is not food! I'm a person, not a— um, um,um… squirrel! I'm not a squirrel!" She could think more clearly now that she had some caffeine in her system and she was completely appalled by her earlier behavior. How could she think she was falling for him?! She had practically been cuddling with him in bed! What had she been thinking?! What must he think of her?!

"Nuts. Squirrels eat nuts, not twigs." He corrected her. His eyes studied her curiously, "You're going to make me late for my lawyer appointment, aren't you?"

Meredith said nothing. She shrugged at his question.

"Cold pizza or leftover grilled cheese is not a healthy choice for breakfast or any meal for that matter." Sighed, he was slightly annoyed.

Again, she shrugged. Picking a spot on back of the cab driver's head, she crossed her arms and stared at it intensely.

"Don't pout. You're too old to pout and still make it look cute and adorable."

"Hmph!" Meredith cast a sideway glare at him before going back to stare at the cab driver's head again.

"Fine. Just so you'll stop doing that, we'll stop by McDonald's." He let out a sigh before giving new instruction to the taxi driver.

Derek arched his brow as he turned to his wife, "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic!" Meredith rolled her eyes at him and remained quiet while she was inwardly jumping for joy.

Meredith rubbed her stomach satisfyingly as they made their way into a business building. Derek put his hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the elevator. He studied her closely, "It's unbelievable how something so small can consume so much food!"

She rolled her eyes at him but said nothing as they stepped on the elevator and were surrounded by other people. They stood side by side silently waiting for the elevator to get to the top floor.

A plump short fellow in his mid 50s greeted them as soon as they arrived. Derek introduced him as Phil Clayton, his attorney—the very same attorney who had been helping Meredith getting the money. He was also the one who had drawn up their pre-nup and what not. After a brief introduction, the attorney led them into his office. Meredith asked to be excused but Derek didn't want to leave her outside. He said she was his wife and she should stay and listen. Phil didn't seem to mind. Meredith thought he looked a hundred times more professional than her mother's sorry ass of a lawyer.

But just as they were about to get down to business, the door was pushed opened and someone burst into the room. Everyone turned to look. Meredith's heart dropped as she began to guess who the newcomer could be.

Right away, Phil Clayton's secretary ran into the room looking frantic, "Mr. Clayton, I tried to stop her but—"

Phil silently nodded for his secretary to leave as the redheaded woman marched right up to Derek, "Derek! Please, we need to talk!"

From the look on Derek's face, Meredith finally realized who the redhead was. The woman looked impeccable from head to toes. Her red lips matched her 5-inch heels and that perfect manicure of hers. She just looked so perfect she made Meredith feel like a mouse.

The woman finally noticed Meredith when Derek put his arm around her protectively. Her eyes shot deadly venom as she give Meredith a once over, "and who are you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry, this update is a little late. My grandfather passed away recently and it's been very hard on me and my family. Warning: My updates will probably not be as fast as they were the first time. Just bear with me please

Again, thank you all so much for your kind words. Comments are always welcome and appreciated.

* * *

I'm too sexy for my love too sexy for my love.

Love's going to leave me…

I'm too sexy for my shirt too sexy for my shirt

So sexy it hurts…

And I'm too sexy for Milan too sexy for Milan

New York and Japan…

The music was playing but Mark Sloan's voice was much louder. In fact, he was so loud one could hardly hear the music that was playing in the background. He was operating and when he did it was mandatory that this particular song was playing. It was his national anthem. It was his lucky song.

No one seemed to care that he sung the way he did. They didn't even find it strange that a full-grown man would sing the song. All the scrub nurses were acting as if there was nothing wrong with a good level-headed surgeon singing Right Said Fred's song as he performed a surgery. The nurses were used to it. Some even sang along with him.

"That is so gay, Dr. Sloan!" A familiar female voice laced with laughter came through the intercom causing the staff in the OR to glance toward the gallery.

Mark, too, paused for a moment to tilt his head up toward the gallery and grin, "Betty Boop!"

"Markie!" The woman shot back with sarcastic smile. She knew he hated that name as much as she hated him calling her 'Betty Boop.'

Mark went back to work his magic on the patient as he continued to talk, "What bring you here to this side of town, Beth?"

'Beth' smirked. She had both hands on her hips as she arched her brow.

"I know, don't tell me. Give me 15 minutes and I'll be out of here." Mark grinned as he went back to work, "You're distracting me, woman! Go wait for me in the attendings' lounge."

Almost half an hour later, Mark waltzed into the lounge still singing the same silly tune. His face showed a silly grin as he entered the room fully expecting to see Derek's sister Beth.

Just as he had thought, she had been making herself comfortable chatting up a storm with a couple of their colleagues. They all had had the pleasure of working with each other at one time or another. Seeing that Mark and Beth wanted some privacy, the doctors excused themselves and left the room.

Mark was in private practice. He did not have an office at the hospital. He was only here for the surgery. So the only place that would give them enough privacy here was the lounge.

"How is he, Mark?" Beth went straight to the point. She was able to clear her schedule and came here a day early. But her sense told her she should talk to Mark first. On the phone, she thought Derek had sounded a little odd. May be if she talked to Mark, he could tell her if she was just worrying too much. So she went by his office before driving straight to the hospital.

"He's— I'm not sure, Beth." He told the truth. Running his fingers through his hair, he let out a sigh. There was this part of him that knew Derek was okay—much more okay than he had ever been. But the more sensible part made him doubt everything.

"What do you mean?" Beth leaned back into the couch. She rolled her eyes as she told him, "You know, I saw Addison this morning at your office and I was this close to running my SUV over her!"

"What stopped you?" He chuckled. Mark knew Derek's sister so well he knew she's all barks and no bite.

"She was just leaving and I was in a hurry." She shrugged.

"She didn't see you, did she?" Mark grinned. He knew Beth too well.

"Shut up! Now tell me about Derek already!... where he's been, what he's been doing… you know, those kinda things."

"Yea, well, he's—" Mark hesitated.

Which only agitated her more, "What?! He's what?"

"Seattle, and it's who, not what." He replied halfheartedly.

"Wha— Huh?" Beth blinked.

He was about to say more but then changed his mind, "Don't you think you should let Derek tell you all this himself?"

"Then why am I here for?" Beth shot him a deadly glare.

"You're here because you're too damn impatient for your own good. C'mon, I'm hungry. Let's go grab something to eat," and with that, Mark got up.

"Hey! I'm not! And I'm not hungry!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

Mark shook his head and let out another sigh. Talking Beth out of this conversation would be tough, "You're here early. He doesn't expect you until tomorrow. He'll freak if he sees you today."

"I know! That's why I'm here! I need you to tell me so when I meet Derek he'll be the only one who freaks, not me! I hate surprises. Will there be any surprises?"

"Um…, yes."

"Mark…"

"It's a good surprise. At least I'd like to think it's a good surprise. He seems genuinely happy about it."

"He is?" Beth crossed her arms as she studied him intensely for a moment before deciding he was being genuine. She let out a sigh and leaned back into the couch, "He is, huh?…"

Back in Phil's office, the silence was still deafening as everyone continued to stare at everyone. No one moved or said a word. The only movement Meredith could feel was Derek's arm that tightened around her protectively. So she let out a sigh and decided to be brave. Derek was paying her for this after all.

"Hello, I'm Meredith Sh— Shepherd. Meredith Shepherd. It's nice to finally meet you, Dr. Montgomery." She offered her hand.

Shocked and surprised, instead of shaking it, the redheaded woman just stared at her as if Meredith had just grown a third eye. Her eyes were no longer shooting venom. They were full of shock and, obviously, despair as soon as Meredith's rings on the other hand caught her eyes. There was a hint of vulnerability in those eyes that made Meredith feel a little sorry for her.

Derek was equally shocked that Meredith even knew her name but he finally got over the initial shock and pulled his wife's hand back. He didn't want that woman to have anything to do with his wife, let alone shaking her hand, "What are you doing here, Addison? What is she doing here, Phil?"

"I don't—" Phil didn't know either, "Dr. Montgomery, if you could kindly wait outside. We're conducting a meeting here. I don't think—"

Addison stared back and forth between Meredith's face and her rings, trying to make sense of things. When she spoke, her eyes were actually glassy with unshed tears. Her voice shook as if she was about to cry, "Who is she, Derek? Why does she know my name?


End file.
